When President Donald Trump tore up the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA) during his first term and launched a maximum pressure campaign against Tehran, critics on the far-left, alt-right and in the media howled that this was a break from his self-proclaimed “America First” isolationist stance. They called it the “Israel Exception” — the idea that Trump’s supposed non-interventionist worldview had one glaring carve-out: protecting Israel. They repeat that claim today after Trump bombed Iran’s nuclear installations.

But this narrative ignores the obvious. The real story is not an “Israel Exception” but the “Iran Exception.” The Islamic Republic is the single most destabilizing force in the Middle East and the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. Trump’s decision to confront Iran wasn’t about changing ideology; it was about confronting the reality of a regime that posed a unique and escalating threat.
A Nuclear Red Line
In his first year in office, Trump pursued diplomacy with one of America’s long-standing nuclear antagonists: North Korea. He met Kim Jong-un in a historic summit, issued warm statements, and flirted with détente. Critics scoffed, but Trump’s logic was simple — North Korea already had nuclear weapons. Any confrontation risked an immediate global catastrophe.
Iran, by contrast, was racing toward the bomb but wasn’t there yet. Trump saw a closing window and chose to act, not only to prevent Tehran from crossing the nuclear threshold but to counter years of American accommodation that had only emboldened the regime. It wasn’t about pleasing Israel — it was about containing an implacable enemy of the West.
Iran’s Unique Threat
Unlike any other adversary, Iran is a transnational menace. It does not merely govern a repressive theocracy at home. It exports its revolution abroad through a network of terror proxies, militias, and insurgents:
- Hezbollah in Lebanon
- Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza
- Shiite militias in Iraq
- The Houthis in Yemen
- Assad’s brutal regime in Syria
These groups have not only targeted Israel but have attacked American forces, embassies, and interests in the region. The drone and missile attacks by Iranian-backed groups on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria are only the latest proof that Tehran’s tentacles reach far beyond its borders.

Iran is not France. If Israel went to war with an American ally — the United States would not enter the conflict. It is Iran that makes this different.
Iran has plotted terror attacks on U.S. soil, such as the 2011 plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington, D.C. Its Quds Force and IRGC have been sanctioned for targeting American soldiers and orchestrating killings throughout the region. Trump’s authorized strike on Qassem Soleimani in 2020 was not done at Israel’s urging — it was in response to direct threats to American personnel and the storming of the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.
“If the United States and Iran are engaged in international armed conflict, then there is no requirement for the threat of an imminent attack, and the use of force is not limited to self-defense.”
Ongoing armed conflict. Self-defense. Self-interest.
The Obama Era Legacy
What Trump inherited from the Obama administration was a nuclear deal that put Iran on a glide path to the bomb, enriched the regime with sanctions relief, and gave international legitimacy to a regime that chants “Death to America” and funds global terror. Obama had essentially outsourced regional stabilization to Iran and hoped the Islamic Republic would become a responsible stakeholder.
Instead, Iran took the cash and accelerated its malign activities against the region and American interests.
Trump reversed course. Far from being an anomaly in an “America First” framework, his stance on Iran was the clearest extension of that doctrine: protect American lives, punish America’s enemies, and stop subsidizing the world’s worst actors under the false banner of diplomacy.

The Double Standard
The claim that Trump’s Iran policy was driven by Israel’s interests alone is a cynical deflection — a smear that erases Iran’s long record of bloodshed and global subversion. Even the European Union, which tried to salvage the JCPOA, has acknowledged Iran’s role in terror plots on European soil.

Iran’s ideology is expansionist, messianic, and apocalyptic. It seeks not just regional dominance but the destruction of its enemies — America, the “Great Satan,” chief among them.
Conclusion
The Iran Exception is not a flaw in U.S. foreign policy logic — it’s a recognition of Iran’s unique place at the epicenter of global jihadist terrorism and nuclear blackmail. Trump didn’t go after Iran because of Israel. He went after Iran because of Iran. Those calling an “Israel Exception” are hawking dangerous antisemitic smears meant to strip Israel of earned appreciation for taking on the global menace and stoke a modern blood libel.

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US Bans Iranian Media But Israel Shouldn’t In The Middle Of A War? (May 2024)
Jamaal Bowman Parrots Iran That American Exceptionalism Is A Lie Based In Racism (January 2024)
On 9/11, Commit To Blocking Iran and Saudi Arabia From Ever Possessing Weapons Of Mass Destruction (September 2022)
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